With its "Why Music?" campaign, MENC: The National Association
for Music Education set for itself a high bar. The campaign's dual
goals seem reasonable enough: To promote public awareness of the
importance of music education, and to publicize the five-year-old
March as Music In Our Schools Month (MIOSM). It's the method that
is most ambitious. Specifically, the campaign consists of an
extensive series of public service announcements that feature
popular musical artists talking about the benefits of music
education.
This is easier said than done. With celebrity comes a degree of
exclusivity that can be hard to circumvent. "If you can catch
people on their way up, you are golden," said Elizabeth Lasko,
director of marketing and PR for MENC. "But the minute they start
getting attention from VH1 or the Grammys, the publicist is going
to be a lot less inclined to give you the time of day."
To create the PSAs, each participating artist is asked to record
a 60-second spot based on a prepared script. Artists choose from
among several scripts, or can improvise based on the suggested
themes: Tell us about a music teacher you remember, tell us why you
love music, etc. The back-to-school version includes messages that
encourage parents to get their kids involved in school music
programs, while the MIOSM messages emphasize the value of music
education.
Twice a year, MENC provides its PSAs to some 2,000 country and
adult contemporary stations with a listener base aged 30 and above.
In addition, a series of PSAs featuring jazz and classical artists
is offered to National Public Radio via satellite feed.
To promote the PSAs, MENC sends out an email message to the
target stations, along with follow-up faxes.
Trouble is, celebrities live in well-protected fortresses.
Gatekeepers include publicists, record labels, managers and a
phalanx of others determined to guard their prize from unwanted
intrusions. Lasko says it is not too hard to convince the guardians
that music education is important. What is difficult is convincing
them that the subject is important enough to merit a couple of
minutes in their artist's complex and busy schedules.
By and large, Lasko takes the front-door approach. She sends out
a series of letters to publicists, always including a copy of the
professionally-packaged CD containing the most recent PSAs in the
series, to demonstrate the legitimacy of the effort.
That straightforward approach has scored some successes, landing
PSAs from Tim McGraw, Trace Adkins, Shawn Colvin and others. But
Lasko wanted more, and so in 2002 she forged an innovative
partnership with Wolf Trap, a music venue in northern Virginia that
each year hosts a number of big-name concerts.
Wolf Trap management has given MENC permission to tape its PSAs
on site. Lasko still needs the go-ahead from the artists'
publicists, but with the logistics of the taping essentially a
non-issue (since these artists already are planning on being at
Wolf Trap), it has proven much easier to break through the wall.
This year, Lasko got John Tesh, John Prine, and Mary Travers of
Peter, Paul and Mary
In a similar arrangement, the Country Music Association allowed
MENC to record announcements at rehearsals for the CMS Awards.
While such arrangements give MENC access to some big names,
Lasko has learned that these encounters still must be handled with
care. Willie Nelson agreed to record a PSA while at Wolf Trap, but
when Lasko got there he said he would only do it after the show.
Three hours later she finally was invited onto his bus to make the
recording, "but what I had not known was that the background noise
from the bus being on was just enough to make the PSA almost
unusable." Still, she was happy to get the clip, and managed to
edit it down to a workable statement from the country music
legend.
With a budget of about $50,000 to spend and the gauntlet of
celebrity blockers to run, it's fair to ask whether the MENC effort
is yielding any fruits.
Lasko says PSAs have become one of MENC's most popular outreach
tools, with some radio stations contacting MENC at the end of March
to ensure that they will be on the mailing list for the following
year. Major networks like Associated Press, CBS and Kids Radio
Network have used the PSAs, along with stations in top markets.
In 2002 the back-to-school spots drew 121.7 million gross
impressions through more than 84,000 airings. The MIOSM spot scored
more than 306 million impressions in almost 204,000 airings.
Lessons learned
Chasing celebrity endorsements? Here are some tips...
#1 Team with a program or venue that already has access to the
celebrity.
#2 Catch them on the way up, when they are not-quite-famous.
#3 Know somebody. Got a connection to the celeb's "people"? Use
it.
#4 Credibility counts. In making contact, include background
material to demonstrate the legitimacy of your program.
#5 Find the fit. Research the celebs to figure out who already
has an interest in your cause. They will be the most likely to sign
on.
Campaign Stats For MENC: The National Association for
Music Education
- Founded: 1907
- HQ: Reston, VA
- Budget (2002): $7.5 million
- # of Employees: 75
- Staff on this campaign: PR and Marketing Director Elizabeth
Lasko; Special Projects Assistant Angela Harper;
Consultant/producer John Meyers - Campaign time frame: 2/year, March and August
- Budget: $50,000
- On the web: http://www.menc.org/information/advocate/psa.html
- Contact: Elizabeth Lasko, 703/860-4000, [email protected]